Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes

Last Updated on October 25, 2024

No need to take up space on your stove with a huge pot when you can make Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes instead.

It’s just as easy, perhaps more so, to make them in your Instant Pot.

Mashed Potatoes are a favorite Thanksgiving side dish in my house. I always make up a giant batch so we have plenty to enjoy with leftovers the next day.

Because I make a lot of sides for our Thanksgiving dinner, my oven and stove get pretty crowded. That’s why it’s nice to have both a 6 quart and an 8 quart Instant Pot to help get the cooking done. 

The beauty of making Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes is that since you mash them right in the pot, you can just put the lid back on and keep them warm until you’re ready to serve them.

Even when it’s not Thanksgiving, mashed potatoes are a great side dish to serve. They go great with lots of different main dishes, like this slow cooker cube steak.

Jump to:

• Why Mashed Potatoes for Thanksgiving?
• SAVE THIS RECIPE!
• ❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe
• 🥘 Ingredients
• 🌈 Variations / Options / Add-Ins
• 🥄 Equipment Needed / Helpful Tools
• 🔪 How to Make Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes
• ❓ Recipe FAQs
• 🙏 Pairing
• SAVE THIS RECIPE!
• 📋 Recipe
• Recipe FAQs

Why Mashed Potatoes for Thanksgiving?

Every year Campbell’s comes out with a press release usually at the beginning of November, with a “State of the Sides” report. They find that for Thanksgiving, people usually prefer the sides over the main dish, and the top side varies between mashed potatoes and stuffing from year to year.

So, in case you run out of things to talk about at your dinner table, you can bring up this question and see if your guests have the same reasons for liking mashed potatoes as the ones below, or maybe they have different reasons (let me know in the comments). By the way, if your kids want something else to do while you’re having this discussion, hand them these fun and creative placemats to work on.

Versatile

Mashed potatoes can be made in many ways, and can pair well with many other foods.

Once you make the basic mashed potatoes, you can add so many different ingredients to it — like garlic, sour cream, butter, cream and many different kinds of cheese.

Mashed potatoes obviously go really well with the typical turkey and gravy. However, they also go well with other main dishes that people serve for Thanksgiving, like a vegan loaf, ham, lamb, steak, prime rib, and cornish game hen.

Comfort Food

So many people describe mashed potatoes as the glue that knits or binds the meal together. They say eating them is like receiving a warm hug, probably because it reminds you of what your mom or grandma used to make.

Plus, the creamy consistency of the potatoes just makes you feel good with every bite you put in your mouth.

Tradition

 Mashed potatoes have been on the dinner menus of America since the 18th century.

One of the earliest known recipes for mashed potatoes is in the 1747 culinary classic, “The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy” by the English author Hannah Glasse. This cookbook was popular in the original 13 American Colonies, and was believed to have been used when they made their holiday meals.

So, we’ve all just followed this tradition ever since. You can tell you’re not the only one who serves this side dish when you go to the grocery store in November and see bags of potatoes stacked pretty high.

❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe

You’ll love all of these conveniences of making Instant Pot mashed potatoes:

• Frees up a burner: Usually mashed potatoes need to cook in a large pot and take up a big burner on the stove, however, since you cook these potatoes in the instant pot, you have a burner free for whatever else you need to cook.
• Quick to make: This recipe only takes 15 minutes to make, which is a lot quicker than it takes to even just boil the water for the potatoes when you cook them on the stove.
• Leftovers are delicious: Mashed potatoes still taste great the next day, and can even be used in many other dishes.

In case you have more leftover mashed potatoes than the rest of the dishes you served, you can use them to make pierogi lasagna.

🥘 Ingredients

Mashed potatoes are not only awesome because everyone loves them, but also because they’re so simple. All you need to make them are a few basic ingredients.

• Potatoes: Since you need 4 pounds of potatoes, it’s probably cheaper to just buy the 5 pound bag that’s usually on sale this time of year, and just save the other pound of potatoes for a different recipe.
• Butter: Besides enhancing the flavor of the potatoes, butter contributes to the smooth, creamy texture and makes them look more appealing.
• Sour cream: It adds a slight tangy flavor, which balances the richness of the potatoes and butter.
• Milk: Milk adds moisture to the potatoes, making them light and fluffy.

See recipe card for complete list of ingredients and quantities

🌈 Variations / Options / Add-Ins

In case you want more flavorful mashed potatoes, here are some ideas.

• Garlic: For added flavor, you can add air fryer roasted garlic. Such an easy addition but with big impact!
• Cheesy: Add 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese or Parmesan to the potatoes after mashing. Stir until melted. Or, you can mix in 2-3 tablespoons of cream cheese for extra creaminess.
• Bacon: Add 1/2 cup of crispy, crumbled bacon bits or pancetta.

For a rich and cheesy potato recipe, try this twice baked loaded potato casserole.

🥄 Equipment Needed / Helpful Tools

You only need a few things to make this recipe:

• Instant Pot: This is where you’ll cook and prepare everything needed for this recipe.
• Potato masher: The design of the potato masher (whether it has a perforated or wavy plate) allows for even mashing of the potatoes. It presses down through the potatoes in a way that breaks them apart evenly and helps blend in butter, milk and sour cream without overmixing.

🔪 How to Make Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes

It’s super easy to make Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes. Here’s how you do it:

Step 1: Prepare the Potatoes

Start with 4 pounds of russet potatoes. Peel the potatoes and cut larger potatoes in half. Add a cup and a half of water.

Step 2: Cook

Now, we’re going to let the pot do the work. Secure the lid, making sure the valve is turned to “sealing” and set to Manual pressure for 10 minutes.

Step 3: Quick Release

When the cook time has finished, press “cancel” and move the valve to “venting” to quick release the pressure.

Step 4: Mash

After the pressure has fully released, carefully remove the lid. If you like your mashed potatoes, creamy like I do, go ahead and add sour cream, milk, butter, and salt, pepper and garlic powder (if you want).

If you want fluffy mashed potatoes, drain off any residual water before adding the other ingredients.

Use a masher to mash the potatoes and mix in the other ingredients. Keep mashing until the potatoes reach your desired consistency.

If you like chives, feel free to add them at this step too.

If you aren’t serving the potatoes right away, replace the Instant Pot lid and set the pot to “Warm.”

Step 5: Serve

When you’re ready to serve, just transfer the Instant Pot mashed potatoes to a serving bowl. Top with additional chives for color, if you want.

❓ Recipe FAQs

🙏 Pairing

These are my favorite dishes to serve with Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes:

Ready to get cooking? Print off the recipe card below or toggle on Cook Mode to keep your screen from going dark while you follow along on your phone or tablet.

📋 Recipe